Mixed feelings over tour buses in Sausalito

One Bay Area Town which tourists love to visit is having its own love-hate relationship with tour buses

November 21, 2013 6:15:47 PM PST

by Cornell Barnard

SAUSALITO, Calif. --

One Bay Area town which tourists love to visit is having its own love-hate relationship with tour buses -- some say there are just too many coming into quaint Sausalito and the city is considering what to do.

Tourists love Sausalito and tour buses love taking them there -- almost non-stop. Up to 48 tour buses a day can roll through the towns steep narrow streets.

They go right past Lisa Fredrick's house. "We're a little annoyed by how many buses go by. This time of year, some are empty, seems like a lot of pollution," she told ABC7 News.

"They blast soot, noisy, can't hear," said Elaine, a realtor who works on 2nd St and finds it hard to concentrate. Asked about ear plugs, she said, "Actually I have them, one pair of orange, one pair of green."

Besides the noise and the traffic, the city worries that a collision between a tour bus and a cyclist is bound to happen. "We want tourists to go home with happy memories of Sausalito, not injuries," said Sausalito City Councilmember Linda Pfiefer. She wants restrictions on where and when tour busses can operate.

This week, San Francisco banned tour buses in Alamo Square after complaints from neighbors, but this tour bus driver says that could be a mistake for Sausalito. "I'm telling you, we bring thousands of people to Sausalito and to put a ban on buses, how would that float?" asked Brian Young with Gray Line Tours.

Downtown merchants say the town was built on tourist dollars. "Some come here on tour buses then they return on their own because they like it so much," Jonathan Lucero said.

For now, the buses keep rolling in, but opponents hope to take a ban before the council by February.